Alex Morgan has recovered from COVID-19, USWNT coach confirms

U.S. national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has confirmed that Alex Morgan has recovered from COVID-19 and is back on the training field.

Two weeks ago, Morgan announced that she and her family had tested positive for COVID-19 over the holidays. Following the diagnosis, Morgan was left off the roster for the USWNT’s January camp and two friendlies against Colombia.

“We’re very happy to hear that Alex is doing great and everything in terms of COVID is behind her,” Andonovski said Thursday. “She’s been training well. She passed all the medical tests and screenings that she’s supposed to in order to get back on the field and start training.”

Morgan recently returned to the U.S. after a short stint in England with Tottenham. After battling injuries to start her time in north London, Morgan scored two goals in four Women’s Super League appearances for Spurs. 

She will now return to the Orlando Pride of the NWSL ahead of preseason and appears likely to be called in next month when the USWNT hosts Brazil, Japan and Canada for the SheBelieves Cup.

The USWNT defeated Colombia 4-0 on Monday night on the strength of a hat trick from Sam Mewis and another goal from her sister Kristie.

The two teams will face off again at Exploria Stadium in Orlando on Friday night and Andonovski has said there will likely be some major changes to his lineup. 

“We’ll have 18 players on the game day roster and rotation will be significant,” he said. “We’re going to see players that didn’t play or didn’t start and that’s what these games are all about.

“We want to see what players can do under pressure, we want to see how certain players are connecting with different players. We want to see how different sub groups are doing.

“We will use hopefully all six subs.”

Andonovski also confirmed that Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh will both miss out against Colombia on Friday. Smith was injured in warmups on Monday night, while Pugh was injured on the third day of camp and has been working on rehabbing her injury since then.

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